Card assembly



y I A. A. HOFFMANN 2,379,637,

CARD ASSEMBLY Filed Feb. 19, 1943 ALFRED A.HOFFMANN INVENTOR ATTORNEY Patented July 3, 1945 UNITED [S AT I PATENT OFFICE Alfred A. Hoffmann, Rochester, N. Y. Application February 19, 1943, Serial No. 476,471

- 3 Claims.

vices such as greeting or correspondence cards or" the like and more particularly'it' has-reference to means whereby" sheet material members may be connected toform an assembly or chain which may be folded into a compact package.

One of the objects of my invention is to provide an improved assembly of sheet material members. A further object is to provide a chain assembly of greeting cards or the like which can, be manufactured and assembled readily and folded in zig-zag fashion to provide a compact package. Another object is to provide a chain assembly of greeting cards or the like having units which may be detachably and hingedly secured together. Still another object is to provide a unit sheet material member having integrally formed means whereby a plurality of units may be detachably united to form a chain assembly. These and other objects and advantages reside in certain novel features of construction, arrangement and combination of parts as will hereinafter be more fullyexplained and pointed out in the appended claims.

Referring to the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of a sheet material unit used in the assembly.

Fig.2 is a plan view, on a reduced scale, showing the location of the parts when a plurality of units are connected.

Fig. 3 is a perspective view illustrating how the assembly may be folded in zig-zag fashion.

A preferred embodiment of my invention is illustrated in the drawing wherein II] indicates a sheet material member or unit of the assembly. The member II] may be formed of any suitable sheet or card material and may be printed or carry surface ornamentation or pictures so as to serve as a greeting card, or it may be arranged as a correspondence card.

The member II! is provided at one side with the outwardly extending projection II, having the re-entrant portions I2, while the opposite side of the member ID is slotted as at I3. The slot I3 is preferably formed in alignment with the side it and hence additional material in the form of the projecting portion I5 is required. The slot I3 is shorter than the'maximum width of the projection I I but it is longer than the distance between the two re-entrant portions I2. Accordingly, the projection of one card may be engaged in the slot of another card by first inserting one side of the projection so that one side of the slot engages one re-entrant portion. The greater width of the projection will prevent (01. 281- 5 This invention relates to sheet material deit from pulling out of the slot when the two card members are aligned. I j Two or more of the card members IIJ may, therefore, be detachably secured together by coaction of the projection of one card with the slot of the adjacent card. When 'a plurality of card members are thusly connected, all of the projections will be oriented or pointed in the same directionso that they may be in position to cooperate'with the slots of the respectively adjacent card members. Thus, in Fig. 2, the projection I6 of member I1. and the projection I8 of member I9 both point towards the left so that they may respectively engage the slots 20 and M formed in members 22 and I1.

In order to facilitate handling and permit the assembly of card members to be folded into a compact package for insertion in a mailing envelope, the projections. of successive card members are inserted through the slots so that the projections alternately contact the upper and lower faces of the successive card members. This is clearly shown in Fig. 2 wherein the projection I8 of card I9 contacts the under or lower face of card I1 and the projection I6 of card I'I contacts the upper face of card 22.- With this arrangement, a plurality of card members such as 24, 25 and 26 may be folded upon themselves in zig-zag fashion, as shown in Fig. 3, to. form a compact package of superposed cards .which can be inserted in an envelope for mail ing.

I am able to attain the objects of my invention and provide an assembly of sheet material members, such, as greeting cards or the like, which can be readily manufactured and detachably connected while still permitting the members to be folded into a compact package.

As hereinbefore stated, the members of the I assembly may be made up of any suitable sheet material and they may carry surface ornamenta- Or, the members may tion or printed greetings. be arranged to serve as correspondence cards on which short messages may be written. Each member of a club or organization could, for example, write an individual greeting or message on one of the card members; these card mem-' here could then be detachably connected so as to provide a sort of chain letter which could be mailed to an absent member of the club or organization. Such a chain assembly can easily bemadeup with any desired number of links or units. The projections and slots are preferably formed on the card members by a suitable cute From. the foregoing, it will be apparent that,

ting die and the contour or outline of the member may obviously be made in any desired form. Various other modifications can obviously be madewithout departing from the spirit of my invention.

I claim:

1. A unit of a chain of greeting cards or the like comprising a member formed of sheet material, an integrally formed projection extending outwardly from one side'of said member,

said projection having re-entrant portions, the opposite side of said member having a projecting part provided with a slot substantially in alignment with the edges of the opposite side, whereby a plurality of said members may be hingedly connected to form a chain by inserting the projections of the members in the respectively adjacent slots with the re-entrant portions engaging the sides of the slots.

2..A chain assembly of greeting cards or the like comprising a plurality of sheet material members arranged in succession, each of said members having a projection at one side thereof and a projecting part at the opposite side,

, bers, each of said members having a projection at one side thereof and a projecting part at the opposite side, each member having a slot formed adjacent the projecting part and substantially in alignment with the edge of said opposite side, said-members being arranged in succession with the projection of one member extending through the slot of the adjacent member, the projections being alternately positioned against the upper and lower faces of the successive members whereby the members may be folded in zig-zag fashion to. form a pack of superposed members.

ALFRED A. HOFFMANN. 

